oO 
THE ELOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ FEBIU'AUY, 
again be gently settled about tbe roots, by 
giving tbe bottom of tbe pots a rap against 
tbe side of tbe frame, and tbe soil a slight 
pressure witb tbe fingers. All decaying leaves 
should be taken off. Auriculas, and especially 
tbe choice kinds, should be kept near the glass 
on a raised stage, or stood on inverted pots, so 
that tbe air can circulate about them. They 
need to be kept very dry just now, and tbe 
plants should be preserved from any damp 
settling on tbe leaves. In another mouth 
many hardy plants will begin to be very active, 
and then it is that the gardener reaps tbe rich 
reward of bis careful attention. 
Flower Garden. —Here but little can be 
done Avbile tbe frost lasts. We fear many a 
prettily-designed spring garden will have been 
quite wrecked, as Silenes, Forget-me-Nots, 
Limnanthes, Wallflowers, and many common 
things have suffered much from tbe frost. 
Even where a reserve of plants has been kept, 
they have also suffered. Such things as Double 
Daisies, Primroses, Polijantlaises, and Pansies 
have suffered very much, and cases have oc¬ 
curred where hardy ornamental shrubs planted 
in December have been much cut about owing 
to recent transplantation. The villa gardener 
must make the best of his losses, and by-and- 
by, when the weather is genial, repair the 
bi’eaches in his beds as best he can. Happy 
are those gardeners who had their unoccupied 
flower-beds thrown up roughly for the winter 
before the frost set in. 
Kitchen Garden. —Preparatory work should 
be entered on as soon as the weather allows 
of its being done. Getting out manure, 
digging, trenching, and stirring the surface 
between growing crops, should all be done when 
possible. When it is dry and the soil work¬ 
able, beds for Onions should be formed, and 
the soil prepared for Carrots, Parsnips, Beet, 
and other tap-rooted vegetables. On a warm, 
sunny border, a little Radish and Lettuce can 
be sowm : of the former, WooPs Frame, and 
the Scarlet and White Olive-shaped; of the 
latter, P^eyden White Dutch and Paris White 
Cos. Some Early Peas and Long-pod Beans 
should be sorvn ; also a little Summer Spinacd, 
Parsley, and Cabbage. At the end of the 
month, a herb-bed can be made, by dividing 
some old roots, and replanting them in good soil. 
Fruit Garden. —During frosty weather, all 
Apple, Pear, Cherry, and Plum trees growing 
in the open as standards or pyramids, can be 
pruned, as a means of saving time, as w-hen the 
frost breaks there will be an abundance of 
work to occupy the time of the gardener. 
Gooseberries and Currants can be pruned also ; 
and the prunings not required for cuttings 
taken away and burned. Strawberries can now 
be top-dressed with great advantage, using 
decayed leaves, good loam, and plenty of in¬ 
vigorating manure.— Subuebanus. 
GAEDEN GOSSIP. 
« HE Pose Annual for 1878-9, by Mr. 
W. Paul, published by the author, is 
always welcome, since we find in it 
portraits of some of the best new roses, and a 
variety of information, under six heads, concerning 
these popular flowers. The varieties, of wdiich illus¬ 
trations are given, arc H.P. Duchess of Bedford, 
raised by Mr. Postans, and to be sent out by Mr. 
Paul this season, a dazzling light scarlet-crimson, 
large, full, and globular, the growth vigorous and 
the foliage fine, one of the first to bloom in autumn. 
H.P. Jean Liahaud, a velvety-crimson shaded with 
black, introduced by M. Liabaud, of 1875. Tea 
Souvenir de Madame Fernet, introduced by M. Pernct 
in ] 873; a beautiful salmon-pink, of large size, with 
shell-like petals, not yet very widely distributed, 
apparently because not well knowm, but really a 
very fine flower, and a rose of vigorous growth. 
Tea Madame Lomhard, a lovely rose, introduced in 
the autumn of 1877 by M. Lacharme, of vigorous 
growth, with salmon-pink flowers shaded with rose, 
the colours similar to, but stronger, than those of 
Souvenir de M. Pernet. Mr. Paul thinks this the best 
novelty of its 'year. The remarks on New Poses, 
and on the Rose Shows of 1878, will be specially 
interesting to all wdio have Rose Gardens. 
— ^Uhofessoe Todaeo, of Palermo, bas just 
publisbed, under tbe title of Relazione sulla 
Cultura dei Cotoni, a most important Mono¬ 
graph of THE Genus Gossypium, illustrated by an 
atlas of coloured figures. The varieties or species 
described have all been grown under the author’s 
owm supervision, in the Botanic Gai’den at Palermo. 
The text includes an elaborate report on the culti¬ 
vation of the cotton plant, not only in Italy, but in 
other countries ; but this part, important as it must 
bo to those engaged in the production of cotton, is 
of less general interest than the elaborate mono¬ 
graph, which is by far the most careful and com¬ 
plete which has yet appeared. Professor Todaro 
recognises fifty-four species of Gossypium, a much 
larger number than some other modern botanists 
are willing to admit. The question is, indeed, of 
little moment whether a particular form bo a 
“ species ” or “ variety,” and on this point a diver¬ 
gence of views may be expected. There is, however, 
in this case, a manifold difficulty, for as with other 
long-cultivated plants, the cereals, for example, there 
are no means of determining wdth precision w'hich 
are the wild and typical forms, and which are 
the result of the cross-breeding and intermixture of 
races incident on cultivation. The fine series of 
figures adds much to the value of this memou’, from 
a scientific point of view. 
— ©N December 24tb, tbe presentation of 
a Testimonial to De. Balfoue, Professor of 
Botany in tbe University of Edinburgb, wbicb 
had been subscribed for by a number of his friends 
and former pupils, took place in the Coui't Room of 
the University. It consisted of a portrait painted 
by Sir D. Macnee, which is to grace the W'alls of the 
University. The j)ortrait is a lialf-length, repre¬ 
senting the Professor in the robes of the Dean of 
Paculty. Lord Currichill, in a few appropriate 
words, afterwards presented to Mrs. Balfour a second 
portrait of the Professor, by the same painter, in 
which he is depicted clad in excursion garb of 
modest grey, with belt and spud, and holding in one 
hand a magnifier, and in the other a small wild 
flower. 
